As the future of one college solidifies, the College of Media moves closer and closer to crumbling.

The University took a big step forward this week when Interim Provost Ed Feser announced Dr. King Li as the new dean of the Carle College of Medicine.

In contrast, Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, the interim dean of the College of Media, will meet Thursday night with professors in the college to discuss its future.

The meeting is closed to the public, but students within the college should keep their eyes and ears open for news coming out of the discussion.

But even students who are in other colleges should take note. If the College of Media is split and distributed to other departments, it could prevent incumbent students in those colleges from receiving the same dedicated care and quality resources as before.

The College of Media shares a common trait with every other college at the University: It has devoted faculty members who prepare the future leaders of tomorrow.

But Media is also unique. Few colleges on campus are as small, which means students get individualized attention that would be missing elsewhere, such as in the massive College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Not to say that Media students’ experiences wouldn’t be fantastic within the College of LAS, the College of Fine and Applied Arts or any other college.

What would be lost is the close-knit camaraderie between students, professors and even academic advisers that has defined it for years.

In our eyes, the College of Media originated as a compilation of misfit majors, such as advertising and agricultural communications, looking for a home. The key idea was to find a way to keep journalism around, but with bleak career prospects (we’re well aware), it’s been hard to keep the college and department around.

It’s sad to see a college that was the product of such hard work encounter such an uncertain future, caused in part by the University’s state-politician-induced budget issues.

Students don’t typically have seats at the table during these major decisions, but they should stay in tune with what happens and speak their minds.

Being heard can do a lot. And that’s why we’re addressing the issue. Much of The Daily Illini staff studies in the College of Media, so its potential dissolution hits home for us.

The attention and guidance provided by the College of Media has helped carry many of us through our college years.

We’d hate to see it go.